Pippa Catterall, Professor of History and Policy at the University of Westminster, contributed to an article on the importance of queer spaces in public.
The article discusses the historical and sociological importance of queer spaces, their role in society today and why they should be prioritised when creating new public spaces.
Queer spaces are spaces that proactively accommodate for all of their users’ sexualities and gender identities.
The article says that despite social advancements and growing acceptance of queer communities in recent years, the built environments we live in were nonetheless primarily designed to fit heterosexual, gender-driven narratives and can therefore limit the possibility for queer spaces.
Professor Catterall said: "We have to move beyond the idea of designing public space in a way in which they don't think about the diversity of the users, or how people are going to be possibly targeted in those public spaces."
Read the full article on Arch Daily’s website.
